This is a nice, new Marks and Spencer store, located as part of the Rochdale Riverside Retail & Leisure complex, with Marks and Spencer relocating to this new store, from their old spot in the town, this store is an upgrade for sure, with the store having a much more modern and up-to-date feel to it.
The store has good facilities you'd expect to find in most Marks and Spencer locations including an M&S Cafe, Food Hall and toilet facilities.
I did find the Food Hall to be a reduced selection compared to what you'd usually find in Marks and Spencer, it seems to offer a taster of the brand, more than anything else. For example, they may sell many products such as meat, dairy and fruit juices, but the choices within these sections seem to be much fewer than in other stores. I couldn't find the specific type of sausages and milk that I wanted... but there were similar alternatives
Many items seemed to have a much shorter shelf life than I would have liked/expected too, I noticed the use-by date on many products to be 2-3 days, and that in a different store would be considerably longer.
I understand they are restricted by Sunday trading hours, but it is a shame they are one of the first stores in town to close on a Sunday, I would much prefer their opening hours to be from 11 am to 5 pm, compared to their current 10:30 am to 4:30 pm, as the extra half hour in the afternoon makes all the difference to me. The opening hours Monday to Saturday, are much more reasonable between 8 am and 7 pm.
3* - A nice modern store, a decent size, and a great brand to have in the town, but not the best Marks and Spencer by all means, with some issues. read more